Podcasting Case Study: University of Washington

Rationale

The University of Washington offers students audio recordings of some of its large survey classes. Traditionally these recordings were offered on cassette and were accessed in the university library.

Recently the university’s Classroom Support Services team realized the program warranted attention. Not only did the existing analog technology merit updating, but the cassette recordings placed demands on library staff and space (storage and listening areas), and both were at a premium.

When considering options, the team sought an affordable, scalable, automated system—one that would not require staff resources to set up or maintain. They also wanted to broaden access to the recordings beyond the library’s hours and location. Ultimately, podcasting emerged as a solid, viable option.

Description

Used with permission of Joan Thomas.

The Classroom Support Services team, in partnership with several other units on campus, launched a simple podcasting pilot in 2005. The technology employed was straightforward—recording devices were hooked up to existing PA systems in classrooms. The MP3 file for each class was uploaded to one of the university’s servers and then posted to a class blog site for easy student access via the blog or RSS.

Use of the system was intended to be very simple for both faculty and students. The program required no special faculty attention—neither in training nor in setup. And for the students, they ultimately could easily access the class recordings within minutes of the end of class from the convenience of any networked computer.

Implementation

Implementing the podcasting program at the University of Washington required almost no changes to the existing technical infrastructure, and costs were low.

Classroom setup was minimal. The team selected rooms for podcasting that were already equipped with the necessary PA systems. Initially each room was set up with an MP3 recorder connected to the PA system, but these were discontinued after it became clear that the faculty frequently forgot to turn them on or off or to even use them. Those systems were replaced with different recording devices that enabled automated, scheduled recordings that streamed audio directly onto the server; the instructor needed to remember only to turn on the microphone. The setup cost per classroom with these devices was about $500.

The team quickly expanded the number of classes it recorded, targeting the university’s larger survey courses, whose lecture format was compatible with the single audio recording device. They avoided smaller classes, in which discussion was an important element, because their podcasting setup did not easily support multiple audio inputs. At the time of this writing, about one-quarter of the university’s large survey rooms were equipped with podcasting capabilities, and about 10 recordings per day were captured. Also, the team had begun video podcasting (“vodcasting”) in two of the classrooms equipped with video recording equipment; the vodcasts had been posted on the class blogs along with the other class materials.

During the pilot, the team used an existing server at the university. As the project progressed, they purchased a dedicated server for about $5,000. Each course’s podcasts were copied onto DVD-ROM at the course’s end for indefinite storage.

The team set up software for hosting and posting the recordings in class blogs. Blogs were deemed the most effective means for distributing the audio files. Faculty had control of their own recordings—they could delete, annotate, edit, repost, or otherwise enhance them—and access for students was simple through the blog site and RSS. Initially, the podcasts were openly available; access was later restricted to individuals with University of Washington user IDs.

To solicit faculty involvement in the program, the team sent invitations before the quarter began to the instructors of the classes targeted for podcasting, asking them if they wanted to participate. Those who accepted the invitation received instructions that would help them optimize the quality of the recordings. Technical staff monitored the recordings during the semester and alerted instructors when problems occurred.

Copyright infringement issues were avoided through an agreement in the podcasting request form submitted by instructors. The instructors were required to agree either to use no copyrighted materials in their presentations or, if they did use copyrighted materials, to take full responsibility for clearance.

Supporting the system was simple. File transfers and conversions were handled by automated computing processes; class times were entered into an automated scheduling system to control the recording schedules; and maintenance needs were minimal. Faculty involvement in the technical processes were negligible, so they did not need support. Student problems—usually of a predictable and simple nature, such as how to subscribe to a podcast—were usually resolved through the online help pages and FAQs.

Results

The University of Washington considered the podcasting program a clear success. They had developed an affordable, scalable podcast program that relieved resource burdens on the library and greatly expanded access to lectures.

Student response to the program was strong. Initially, there was minor confusion among students about how to use the podcasts—some thought they needed an iPod to listen. But podcasting quickly caught on and became popular. In the initial two quarters of use, when the podcasts were publicly accessible, the podcasts were accessed several thousand times. Even after access was limited to the university community, downloads have remained just about as frequent.

Students noted minor problems with the structure and content of the podcasts. For example, sometimes instructors failed to describe visual materials they referred to or to indicate when they moved ahead in the slide presentation. Overall, however, students found the podcasts easy to use.

No assessment was done ahead of launching the program to determine faculty interest in podcasting, but a general faculty survey had indicated broad interest in expanding classroom technology use. Only one instructor had independently employed podcasting prior to the program’s launch. Some faculty were not even familiar with podcasting.

By its second quarter, the program had been written about extensively within the university community. The acclaim it received and its ease of use led to adoption by more instructors. Some had also been persuaded to podcast by listening to other instructors’ podcasts.

Impact on Teaching and Learning

To gauge the impact of the program in greater detail, the university conducted surveys of both students and faculty involved in the podcasting program.

Although the faculty participating in the program expressed satisfaction with it, especially its ease of use, few had listened to any of the podcasts. Faculty participated not so much for the program’s potential to improve the way they taught but for the benefits it offered students. They appreciated that students could use the podcasts to listen to lectures multiple times, make up a missed class, and review for tests.

Not surprisingly, then, the program had little effect on faculty instructional methods. Before the program began, some faculty had offered online materials (such as lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations) to supplement their lectures, and podcasts were seen as an additional beneficial resource. But faculty did not develop additional innovations for use podcasting to support their instruction.

As for students, results indicated that more often than not, they downloaded the podcasts and listened to them on their computers, even if they owned portable MP3 devices like iPods. It is worth noting that many students were using the podcasts at the same time that they reviewed other online class materials. For example, a student might listen to a class podcast on her computer while reviewing the corresponding PowerPoint presentation.

Students and faculty disagreed about the effect of podcasts on class attendance. Most students said the podcasts had no impact on their attendance; only a small percentage said the podcasts made them less likely to attend. The majority of students felt that the podcasts were useful when they were forced to miss class (such as for a doctor’s appointment). Very few said that they would use the podcast as a regular replacement for class attendance.

On the other hand, a majority of the faculty felt that podcasts made students less likely to attend. Some faculty indicated that the podcasts tended to draw off only the less academically inclined students and that most academically engaged students continued to attend regularly. One instructor thought that this phenomenon improved the quality of discussion in his class. None of the faculty were daunted by concerns about attendance; most affirmed that they wanted to continue to offer podcasting.

Given the program’s popularity and scalability, the university was considering broadening classroom podcasting. As of summer 2006, the university was planning to hold workshops and discussions with faculty to explore new ways the podcasts could be used to support learning.

Reflection

The University of Washington’s podcasting program demonstrated that one need not spend a lot of money and have a complex central technology structure in place to carry out podcasting—one can succeed with much simpler solutions. And, for students, mobility was not the biggest draw; it was the anywhere, anytime access. Their use of the podcasts in tandem with other class materials was also noteworthy.

Further Reading

• University of Washington Classroom Support Services Blog, <http://www.css.washington.edu/blog/blog/18>.
• Nancy Wick, “Students Get Class Lectures on Demand, Thanks to Podcasts,” University Week, <http://uwnews.org/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=12921>.